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Automating Stock Updates to Salesforce with Node.js and the Pub/Sub API

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By Richard Munyao
4 min read

Automating Stock Updates to Salesforce with Node.js and the Pub/Sub API: A Real-Time Publisher Solution

In this blog post, we discover how to automate stock price updates from the Nairobi Stock Exchange to Salesforce using Node.js and the Salesforce Pub/Sub API. This Node.js application leverages the “publish” capabilities of Pub/Sub to send timely stock data as custom events, ensuring our Salesforce org stays up-to-date with hourly updates in either single-stock or bulk modes.

I built this to test out the interaction between a Salesforce org and an external app as the publisher.

Also because I would like to keep an eye on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and set up analysis and email/notification actions in a future blog.

Introduction to the Salesforce Stock Price Publisher

The Salesforce Stock Price Publisher is a Node.js application that does precisely this: it automates stock price fetching from the Nairobi Stock Exchange (or any stock exchange of your choice) and publishes these prices as custom events in Salesforce. It operates with flexibility, allowing you to choose whether to fetch a single stock or a full batch of available stocks, and can be configured for both development and production environments.

Key Features of the Publisher

This Node.js application is designed to be reliable and versatile. Here’s a quick overview of its main features:

  • Automatic, hourly stock price fetching from the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
  • Configurable data fetching for either a single stock or all available stocks.
  • Real-time data publishing to Salesforce via the Pub/Sub API.
  • Environment-specific configuration for development and production.
  • Secure and robust authentication for Salesforce.

Desktop View Data flow from NodeJS app to Salesforce

Prerequisites

Before getting started with the Salesforce Stock Price Publisher, make sure you have the following:

  1. Node.js (version 14 or higher)
  2. Salesforce organization with Pub/Sub API enabled
  3. RapidAPI account with access to the Nairobi Stock Exchange API
  4. Salesforce Connected App (specifically for production deployment)

Setting Up the Application

To follow along, you can view the repository here

Let’s get started with setting up the application on your system. This process is straightforward and involves installing the required dependencies and configuring environment variables.

  1. Clone the repository:

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    git clone https://github.com/brave-hawk/stock-price-pub-sub.git
cd stock-price-pub-sub

  2. Install dependencies:

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    npm install

  3. Configure environment variables: Create a .env file in the root directory and include these variables:

    # Environment
NODE_ENV=DEV  # or PROD

# Fetch Mode
FETCH_MODE=SINGLE  # or ALL

# Salesforce Credentials
SALESFORCE_LOGIN_URL=your-salesforce-login-url
SALESFORCE_USERNAME=your-username
SALESFORCE_PASSWORD=your-password
SALESFORCE_TOKEN=your-security-token

# Production Only (OAuth JWT)
SALESFORCE_JWT_CLIENT_ID=your-connected-app-client-id
SALESFORCE_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE=path/to/private-key.key

# RapidAPI Configuration
RAPID_API_KEY=your-rapid-api-key
RAPID_API_HOST=nairobi-stock-exchange-nse.p.rapidapi.com

    To get your security token (SALESFORCE_TOKEN) for the development run, you can follow the instructions to Reset Security Token

Running the Application

With everything set up, you’re ready to start the application. Here’s how:

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node index.js

The FETCH_MODE environment variable dictates the mode:

  • SINGLE: Fetches data for a single stock (e.g., “GLD”).
  • ALL: Fetches data for all available stocks.

Desktop View Screenshot of the command line output when the app is fetching data for stocks and publishing to Salesforce

Application Architecture

This application is well-structured, with modular components that handle different aspects of data fetching and publishing.

Main Components

  1. index.js: The entry point for the application, which schedules data fetching and handles the publishing process.
  2. utils/connectClient.js: Manages Salesforce Pub/Sub API client connections, supporting both development (username-password) and production (OAuth JWT) authentication.
  3. utils/fetchStockData.js: Handles API calls to the Nairobi Stock Exchange and provides methods for single or bulk stock data fetching.

Salesforce Integration

Stock data is published as custom Salesforce events in the HourlyStockEvent__e channel. The following fields are included:

  • CreatedDate: Event timestamp
  • CreatedById: Salesforce User ID
  • Symbol__c: Stock symbol
  • Price__c: Current stock price
  • Change__c: Price change
  • StockName__c: Name of the stock
  • Volume__c: Trading volume
  • All_Stock_String__c: JSON string of all stocks data (when in ALL mode)

Desktop View Salesforce platform event showing stock data fields

Production Deployment

For a production environment:

  1. Set NODE_ENV=PROD in your .env file.
  2. Configure a Salesforce Connected App with JWT authentication.
  3. Generate and store your private key securely.
  4. Update all production-specific environment variables.
  5. Implement monitoring and logging for better tracking of application behavior.

Watch this space for a blog post coming soon on how to set up the Connected App and generate the key pair needed (as soon as I have time off work)

Development Tips

During development, you can set NODE_ENV=DEV for easier authentication. This mode allows faster iteration, especially when testing data fetching.

Error Handling

The application has built-in error handling for:

  • API connection issues
  • Salesforce authentication failures
  • Data fetching errors

Conclusion

The Salesforce Stock Price Publisher makes it easy to automate stock price updates to Salesforce. With flexible configuration, reliable authentication, and secure data handling, this solution is ideal for businesses needing timely stock data in Salesforce.

Special Thanks

A big thank you to @iancenry for providing the free Nairobi Stock Exchange API on RapidAPI, and to @pozil for the Pub/Sub API client.

Deployment, CI/CD
Node.js salesforce pub/sub
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.